Spizer discusses Beatles return to Abbey Road

Bruce Spizer, a Louisiana lawyer and expert on The Beatles, will discuss his new book, “The Beatles Get Back to Abbey Road,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

In January 1969, the Beatles abandoned the familiar confines of EMI Studios on Abbey Road by rehearsing at Twickenham Film Studios and recording an album's worth of songs in the basement and on the roof of Apple’s Seville Row headquarters.

The Beatles began recording sessions with three different producers—Glyn Johns, George Martin and Chris Thomas alternating at the helm. After this erratic start to the year, the group decided it was time to get back to where they once belonged.

That July, the Beatles returned to Abbey Road, where seven years earlier they had their first recording session with George Martin. The band recaptured the magic and camaraderie that was missing during the January sessions, and the resulting album, “Abbey Road,” quickly topped the charts in both the UK and the US.

Although the group’s January 1969 recordings would eventually be issued on “Let It Be” in May 1970, “Abbey Road” would be the last album recorded by the Beatles.

This latest book in Bruce Spizer’s Beatles album series covers all the records released by the Beatles in 1969, from “Get Back” onward.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at (504) 889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.

Gisclair to discuss New Orleans boxing

S. Derby Gisclair, author of “The Olympic Club of New Orleans: Epicenter of Professional Boxing, 1883 - 1897,” will discuss his new endeavor at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

Gisclair dares readers to “imagine a sporting arena that could accommodate more than 10,000 spectators, with a retractable roof and whose interior was brilliantly lit with both high-intensity arc lights as well as incandescent lighting fixtures throughout; an arena that was wired for both telegraph and telephone connections to accommodate the international press.”

In the late 19th century New Orleans was a mecca for professional and amateur boxers despite city and state regulations that expressly prohibited prizefighting. 

Gisclair is a frequent speaker on sports history of New Orleans and has authored more than 100 articles on local and regional sports personalities and events. His previous books include "Baseball in New Orleans" and "Baseball at Tulane University," both from Arcadia Publishing. He also authored "Early Baseball in New Orleans: A History of 19th Century Play." Gisclair lives in New Orleans.

For more information regarding this event, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 orwcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.

Flashback Friday: New Orleans' Claudette Carrida Jeffrey

In 2015, we spotlighted "The Color of Life," the second book in the Claire Soublet Series by Claudette Carrida Jeffrey, a native of New Orleans who now lives in Northern California. She is also the author of the novel, "A Brown Paper Bag and A Fine Tooth Comb." 

Here’s the book description:

Claire Soublet's great-aunt Sera is a dressmaker in New Orleans's French Quarter in the early 1900s. With her blue eyes and blond hair, no one knows she's a woman of color. Even though Claire lives with her for years before her death, she does not learn they are related or how her great-aunt lived until she receives her memoir.

Jeffrey was born and raised in New Orleans’s Seventh Ward, attending Corpus Christi Elementary School and J.S. Clark High School. Her grandfather, Louis Smith, was one of the Autocrat Club founders. Her great-aunt, Mary V. Rilley, a teacher, was influential in Claudette’s young life. After high school, Claudette moved to New York City where she married and started a family. In southern California, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern California and a Teaching Credential from California State University at Northridge. She’s retired and lives in northern California.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.

Mississippi Vegan – Southern food with conscience

It might sound like an oxymoron but Southern vegan makes sense. Think of our moderate climate that allows us to grow a variety of fabulous vegetables and fruits. While we Southerners tend to focus on the meat end of things, there’s that smorgasbord of biscuits and gravy, macaroni and cheese, peach cobblers, greens and cornbread dressing. And yes, some of those dishes must be altered to be considered vegan, but these days with all the alternative ways to add dairy and protein to meals, Southern vegan can be as easy as a hot knife through butter.

Timothy Pakron celebrates his Mississippi roots and love of Southern cooking in a gorgeous cookbook that will erase any doubt you might have in eating Southern vegan in “Mississippi Vegan: Recipes and Stories from a SouthernBoy’s Heart” (Avery). Pakron doesn’t dwell on the lack of meat but rather the nostalgia of growing up along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and enjoying Cajun, Creole and Southern dishes. To write the book, he enlisted family and friends and calls to his mom.

“The majority of these recipes stem directly from my childhood, dishes that I can only remember in my mind,” he writes in the introduction. “But others pick and pull from what I’ve learned throughout my life, allowing me to introduce something special and unique.”

Pakron’s hope is that readers will look beyond the vegan.

“Although it may sound literal, as I am from Mississippi and I am vegan, this creative endeavor is about more than a specific location,” Pakron writes. “It’s a constant celebration of delicious food, memories, and pride in growing and sourcing local produce. It’s an exploration of nature and a constant search for beauty that exists in this world.”

Are you still doubting the vegan part of the equation? Don’t. There are recipes for gumbo with barley sausage and gumbo z’herbes, blue spice basil pesto pasta, garlic cheese grits with vegan cheddar, mirliton corn bisque and a host of delicious desserts and cocktails, the photos as enticing as the recipes.

Check out the book's trailer here.

Pakron writes the blog “Mississippi Vegan” and his Instagram feed contains many of his gorgeous photos. Before devoting himself to the culinary arts, Pakron spent time as a fine artist and freelance photographer in Charleston and New York City. He currently lives in New Orleans.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.